Enhanced Performance of the BEI 0.5 Watt Mini-Linear Stirling Cooler

Abstract

The BEI B500C Mini-Linear Cooler delivers 0.5 Watt of refrigeration at 80 K with an input power of less than 21W (at 23C case temperature). To meet more stringent requirements, the design of this cooler has been modified to enhance its performance. The new refrigerator, known as the B512C Mini-Linear Cooler has a more efficient motor with less dead volume and parasitic heat loads down the coldfinger. It can provide ~0.6 Watt of cooling at 80K. The cooldown time from room temperature to 73K is less than 8 minutes with 250 joules of thermal mass and a case temperature of 60C. At the same demanding case temperature of 60C, the refrigeration capacity is >0.25 Watt (with a cap of 11 Volt or 22 Watt), and the cooler can deliver 0.15 Watt of cooling with less than 13 Watt of input power. In this paper, the enhanced performance of this cooler is discussed in detail together with some of the analyses which lead to the final product.